"Steve! Oh my God, Steve!"
Janine's high-pitched voice cut right through his heart, causing all the other detectives to raise from their desks in well-trained sequence, ready to help in a situation unclear to all.
Bridging the short distance to the entrance, Steve pulled his sobbing girlfriend into a tight hug, flinching when her long fingernails dug into his back, her face buried in his chest, her entire body shaking from fear.
Following him closely, Mike briefly brushed his arm as he walked past to meet the Patrol Officer who'd guided the distraught woman to the 4th floor of the Hall of Justice Building.
"What's going on?", he heard the Lieutenant ask over the heartbreaking sobs down below, receiving nothing but an insecure shrug.
Tightening his hug some more to provide the comfort and security Janine so desperately needed, he met his partner's eyes for a fleeting moment, long enough to convey the request for an explanation with no words whatsoever.
With everyone in the bullpen following the scene intently, Steve slowly turned his back toward their audience and glanced down, giving them a small measure of privacy before carefully nudging her head with his chin.
"It's gonna be alright, I am here. Just relax. You are going to be fine…", he tried only to see Janine shake her head.
"You don't understand, Stephen. I saw him. I saw that guy. He was…he was in your apartment."
"What are you talking about?", Steve asked worriedly and reached for his girlfriend's shoulder, slowly releasing the hug so that he could look her in the eyes, "What do you mean he was in my apartment?!"
"The guy. The guy with the green car!", Janine returned impatiently and ran a hand over her runny makeup, the black eye shadow forming streaks on her high cheek bones, "He wanted me to give you a message."
Upon overhearing the conversation, Mike rushed closer, one hand on his partner's shoulder, his eyes as wide as Steve's at the foreboding news.
"W…what message?"
Biting her lip, Janine stifled another sob, before drawing in a deep, shuddered breath.
"He told me to tell you that by tomorrow, there'd be no more witnesses."
The cryptic message along with its bone-chilling intention made him freeze in his spot, his hands holding onto Janine's shoulders beginning to tremble.
"How…how did he get into the apartment in the first place? We've got a patrol unit stationed right there. And you…are you ok? He didn't hurt you?"
Shaking her head, the Janine met both Mike's and Steve's concerned stares with a shrug.
"I'm fine...just…just scared. He scared me so much, Stephen. He must have come in through the roof access or something. I don't know. I was making the bed and suddenly…suddenly he was behind me."
When another heart-wrenching sob escape her lips, Steve pulled her back against his chest, hoping the gesture would serve to calm her down in a situation that had effectively become way too close for comfort.
"That's it.", the young Inspector said after several tense moments, his jaws clenched in determination, "I've had it with these guys. It's time to hunt them down."
"We most certainly won't.", Mike argued and appeared in front of his line of vision, his unyielding glare leaving no room for interpretation, "Not right now. Not while we're…while we're emotionally worked up, at a time when mistakes can be made if we rush into things. That's exactly what they are counting on. You're going to stay right here with Janine for now until we get this figured out. Is that clear?"
The unusually stern tone cut straight through Steve's defenses and he hesitated briefly, then nodded, albeit begrudgingly, before turning his attention back at Janine.
"In the meantime, I'll have dispatch radio the unit, see if they saw anything.", Mike then added, ready to turn away but hesitating for a moment, "And make sure…well…make sure they're ok considering what happened this morning."